About

If You Ain't Gonna Play, Pass the Controller, also known as Pass the Controller if You're Not Gonna Play, is a catchphrase used to tell someone to give you a chance at doing something that they don't want to or don't seem interested in doing. The phrase is often used in reference to pursuing or dating someone that another person seems uninterested in pursuing.

As a meme, the phrase is associated with a reaction and image macro of the character Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender yelling at Toph, as if screaming the expression. The meme started to appear online as early as April 2026, becoming increasingly popularized over the following months. Alternatively, the phrases "If you ain't gonna play, pass the ball" or "If you ain't gonna shoot the ball, pass it" are also used to convey the same idea.

Origin

In 2026, the phrase "If you ain't gonna play, pass the ball" started spreading online. The phrase is used to ask someone to let them take a shot at pursuing someone if they're not interested.

For example, on January 12th, 2026, X^[1] user @nocontextmemes posted a screenshot of a TikTok comedy video of a woman dressed as a mime on a couch with a Snapchat banner reading, "I'm deleting Tinder dawg." A comment attached to the video reads, "Pass a ball if you don't play dawg." The post gained over 100,000 likes in six months and inspired several redraws and memes in the quote-reposts.

On April 1st, Giphy^[2] user scribbellz posted an image macro of Sokka yelling at Toph, captioned, "If you ain't gonna play pass the controller," garnering over 577 million views in three months.

Spread

On April 26th, 2026, YouTuber^[3] Chef Major posted a comedy video where he uses the phrase, "If you ain't bonna play, pass the controller," garnering over 700,000 views in three months.

On May 14th, X^[4] user @my_mii_chan posted the phrase over a clip from the anime series Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World, garnering over 7,100 likes in two months.

On May 26th, Giphy^[5] user Nichesarp posted an edit of the original meme where Sokka smiles at Toph and says, "Since you gonna play you can keep the controller," gaining over 18-million views in about a month.

On June 30th, 2026, Redditor TesticleInspector made a post on the /r/PeterExplainsTheJoke^[6] subreddit asking about the use of the phrase, garnering over 26,000 upvotes in just over a week.

Various Examples

@domorethinkless_ Bear bro 😭😭 #obsession #horror #fyp ♬ original sound – ishowclub

@jasonphamxo

just take the controller

♬ Mozart/Requiem/Sad Song(1558319) – Nebo

Search Interest

External References